For the first time, it became known about the Russian bath from the words of the "father of history" of the ancient Greek philosopher and scientist Herodotus. In the narrative presented in the form of a legend, Herodotus spoke with admiration about the bathing tradition among the Scythians who inhabited the Black Sea steppes.
The Russian bath is mentioned in the "Tale of Bygone Years" and there is every reason to talk about its wide distribution among Russians already in the 5-6th century AD. At the same time, the bath served not only to maintain cleanliness, but to treat various ailments.
The traditions of treatment in the Russian bath were laid down by the monks of Orthodox monasteries, when herbs and infusions were used during steaming. The popularity of bath procedures was facilitated by their democratic character. After all, they were available to everyone, starting with ordinary peasants and ending with sovereigns. For example, the construction of any house began with the construction of a bath. It is a well-known fact that while traveling in Europe, the Russian autocrat Peter I in Paris ordered to build a bathhouse on the banks of the Seine, and in Holland the tsar personally built a bathhouse.
The peculiarities of the old Russian bath include the fact that it was heated in black, that is, in the middle of the room there was a hearth made of stones or bricks, and the smoke came out through a hole in the ceiling. The Russian writer-historian Karamzin has repeatedly mentioned the bathhouse as an indispensable companion of the Russian, starting from infancy and ending with deep old age. They are told the curious fact that Moscow residents considered False Dmitry not Russian, because he did not go to the bathhouse.
According to unwritten folk commandments, Saturday is considered a bathing day. In the description of Adam Olearius, who visited the Holstein embassy in 1663 with a visit to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, it is said that there are public or private baths in all Russian cities and villages. Olearius wrote that Russians on shelves endure beating with birch brooms and rubbing on shelves in extreme heat, and then doused with cold water or in winter, plunged into snowdrifts. Such a change in temperature has a beneficial effect on health.
In the 11th century, the monk Agapit from the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery became famous for healing the sick with herbs and a steam bath. The history of the Sandunovskie baths in Moscow is interesting, which are still very popular today. Public baths were built by a married couple of Catherine II's favorite actors, Sila Sandunov and Elizaveta Uranova. In 1896, the then owner of the Sandunov Baths were rebuilt and turned into a real bath palace.
